Argentina coach Horacio Bastit has said the 2011 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix will be a new experience for his team as they prepare to take part for the first time

Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3, 2011 – The 2011 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix officially gets underway on Friday as a record 16 teams begin their quest for a spot at the finals in four weeks’ time.

The tournament will take place from August 5 to 28 with the finals set to be staged in Macau, China from August 24 to 28.

Sides will face off in four pools of four teams for three weeks across six countries with the top eight sides moving onto Macau to contest for the coveted top spot.

Bydgoszcz, PolandPoland will host last year’s bronze medallists Italy as well as the Dominican Republic and Argentina, who are competing at their first ever Grand Prix after coming through the Pan American Cup last June. They will have a tough time competing with their more experienced counterparts although coach Horacio Bastit has said that it will be “a new experience, very important for the growth of the team.” Italy will be hoping to build on a number of successful results in recent years as they look towards the London 2012 Olympic Games while Poland and Dominican Republic, who both competed at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, will look to hit the ground running.

Pool BNakhonpathom, ThailandWorld champions Russia return to tournament after missing out last year for only the fourth time and will want to add to their trophy cabinet this time around. In Ekaterina Gamova they have both experience and an enormous amount of potential. They will face Peru, Cuba and hosts Thailand on the opening weekend who finished 12th, 13th and 21st respectively at the World Championships last year.

Pool CBusan, Korea,By their standards, 2010 was a little disappointing for Brazil after they fell short at both the World Grand Prix and the World Championship, finishing runners up in both. They begin their 2011 campaign in a tough group which includes World Championship bronze medallists Japan as well as Germany and hosts Korea. The Germans have already made their intentions clear and captain Christiane Fürst said that the tournament will be vital during the Montreux Volley Master in June.

“This year the Grand Prix is really important for us for leading to the Olympic Games,” Fürst said. “We have three weeks of tough groups against teams like Brazil and USA. But we hope we can make the final.”

Pool DDefending champions USA will begin their 2011 international season against the likes of China, Serbia and Kazakhstan in Pool D in Luohe. The side had a great outing last time around but disappointed at the World Championships, finishing without a medal in fourth. China will also want to begin well and although they are guaranteed a spot in the finals as hosts they will want to peak at the right time. Kazakhs5tan meanwhile return for their third tournament and first since 2008.